Category: SLB

The 16th anniversary of Second Life’s opening to the public at large – SL16B – is just around the corner (starting June 20th). And, as has been the case with SLB events over the last few years, the celebration will feature a series of Meet the Lindens sessions featuring members of the various teams within the Lab who work on Second Life.

The sessions will run daily through the week of the SL16B celebrations, and will be hosted at the SL16B Auditorium. They offer an opportunity to hear from – and likely ask questions of – Linden Lab staff who work on the platform.

All of the sessions will take place between 14:00 and 15:00 SLT, Monday, June 24th and Thursday, June 27th, with the schedule lining up as follows.

Day (14:00 – 15:00 SLT)	Lindens
Monday 24th June	Patch Linden, Senior Manager, Product Operations
Tuesday 25th June	Oz Linden, Technical Director for Second Life and April Linden, Second Life Operations Manager
Wednesday 26th, June	Ebbe Linden (Altberg), Linden Lab CEO
Thursday 27th June	Xiola Linden, Lead Community Manager, and Strawberry Linden

Friday, June 28th will see a (currently unadvertised, as awaiting names) session with some of the Moles.

For those who may be unfamiliar with some of the above names and their areas of expertise:

• Patch Linden oversees the content development teams, the Mainland Land Team, and the Linden Department of Public Works – LDPW, aka The Moles. As such, he oversees things like the development of the new Linden Homes continent, the Lab’s games and experiences such as Linden Realms and Horizons, and so on. He is also responsible for managing the individual Second Life and Sansar support teams, and the account support team.
• Oz Linden oversees the engineering side of Second Life – this encompasses viewer development, simulator development and a lot of the back-end services required by SL (e.g. the asset service, the appearance and baking services, etc.). This includes managing the development and implementation of SL projects and features such Bento, Animesh, the Environmental Enhancement Project, Bakes on Mesh, etc. On the simulator side of things, His team works closely with the Operations team.
• April Linden manages the team responsible for keeping all aspects of Second Life’s infrastructure – servers, network, etc., running. This involves more than just the simulator servers, encompassing as it does core systems such as the log-in services, and the back-end services as well.  This is the time that is directly engaged in handling service outages, protecting SL from things like DDoS attacks. When things do go sideways, April also takes responsibility for informing Second Life users on what happened and why (and LL’s efforts to avoid any future repeat) through her excellent post-mortem blog posts (like this one) which are recommended reading for anyone interested in understanding the complexities of Second Life.
• Ebbe Linden, as the Lab’s CEO since 2014, really needs no introduction. Open and honest, he has always endeavoured to keep SL residents appraised of business at the Lab  – including Sansar – and on the manage perspective on Second Life. Should anyone want a potted biography on him however, I offer the one I pieced together when he officially joined Linden Lab.
• Xiola Linden oversees the Second Life community team, which includes Strawberry Linden. Like many at the Lab, both Xiola and Strawberry are “former” residents of Second Life (quotes used as both remain active in-world on their personal accounts outside of their official capacity as Lindens).  Part of the Marketing Team, the community team is responsible for community relations, running the Second Life social media accounts, working on marketing projects, etc.

As with previous years, I will hopefully be recording each of the sessions, and will be producing a series of audio reports for each. These will comprise bullet-point summaries of the topics covered (I regret to say that producing full written transcripts of every session is too time-intensive for me to commit to), with accompanying audio, as well as links to the official video of each session.

Again, all these sessions will take place at the SL16B Auditorium – but please note that this SLurl will not work until SL16B officially opens.

Catch the SL16B page in the Destination Guide for more information on events and activities during the celebrations.

June 2019 marks the 16th anniversary of Second Life fully opening its doors to the public (and, as I’ve previously mentioned, Linden Lab’s own 20th anniversary as a company). As is the tradition, the anniversary will be marked by the Second Life Birthday event, marked by exhibitions, music, entertainment and more taking place across the SLB regions.

On Monday, April 1st, 2019 Linden Lab opened the doors to applications from exhibitors, performers, presenters and volunteers, with the blog post reading in part:

SL16B is coming this summer … This year, we are excited to return to being more involved in the organisation of all the events. In addition to the official Music Fests, costume parties,  and Shopping events, of the last few years, we’re also returning to our roots and participating more in the development and planning of the main SLB celebration.

Those wishing to apply to be involved in SL16B as exhibitors, performers or volunteers should follow the links below.

• Exhibitors should then read the Exhibitor Policies and complete the Exhibitor Application form
• Performers and Presenters should then read the Performance Policies and complete the Performance Application form.
  • Note that in difference to recent celebration applications, this form covers DJs, live musicians, performance arts, and those wishing to present a lecture or presentation – there is no separate presenters application this year.
• Volunteers (greeters, etc.), should complete the Volunteer Application form.

Notes for the above applications:

• When entering times in any of the above forms, please ensure you used Second Life Time (SLT).
• The closing date for all of the above applications is Wednesday, May 15th, 2019.

In addition, on March 14th, 2019, Linden Lab announced the SL16B Shopping Event (read here for more). Those wishing to apply to be a part of this event as a merchant should complete the Merchant Application form, no later than Saturday, June 1st, 2019.

The SL16B Shopping Event: scheduled to run throughout the shopping period, this multi-region shopping event is now accepting applications from merchants. Those wishing to participate should ensure they have applied by June 1st, 2019.

We’re all familiar with the Second Life Birthday (or more correctly, anniversary, given Second Life is technically older than the celebrated date), marking the month and date on which the platform opened its doors to the public – June 23rd, 2003.

In 2018, we celebrated the platform’s 15th anniversary – a remarkable milestone given the speed at which software and hardware and platforms themselves can rise to prominence before fading away, replaced by the Next Big Thing.

However, as Linden Lab noted in a March 14th blog post, this year’s anniversary marks another special year:

Sixteen years ago, on June 23rd, 2003, Second Life launched to the public. Though it feels like just yesterday and a lifetime ago at the same time, this year we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to go retro and embrace the “Sweet Sixteen” theme for our big party. Sock hops, bowling alleys, and late nights at the diner were a quintessential part of many teenagers lives back in the 1950s, but the 1950s were also a time of political and social change. The world was shocked by the iconic ‘Elvis pelvis,’ and poodle and pencil skirts changed the fashion world forever. Rebellion became the titillating pastime among all that soda shoppe sweetness. It was an era that – like Second Life – rocked and rolled! So, this summer we’re throwing a 1950s themed SL16B with a TON of fun events and happenings. Here is a brief run-down of just a few.

– Linden Lab official blog post

This year the official celebration period will run from Thursday, June 20th, 2019 through to Tuesday, July 8th, 2019, and to mark it the Lab is promising an array of activities, including:

• The SL16B Shopping Event: scheduled to run throughout the celebration period, this multi-region shopping event is now accepting applications from merchants. Those wishing to participate should ensure they have applied by June 1st, 2019.
• The SL16B Music Fest:  popular during recent SLB events, the Music Fest will be returning for 2019, and details on how performers can apply will be forthcoming soon.

There will also be the grand community celebration, plus from the Lab the return of the Swaginator and gifts and parties.

Linden Lab Also Turns Twenty

2019 also marks anther significant anniversary, one that is also worth noting and I would hope (assuming plans aren’t already in-hand) it will also form a part of the SL16B celebrations: the 20th anniversary of the founding of Linden Lab itself.

Linden Research – to give the company its formal name, although it does business under the name of Linden Lab – was founded in 1999 by Philip Rosedale, the company’s first CEO and former Chief Technology Officer of  Real Networks. The company’s original focus was on the development of a immersive virtual reality system comprising both hardware and software known as “The Rig” (which, rumour would have it, still lies in boxes at the Lab’s head offices in San Francisco.

However, unable to develop a commercially viable version of The Rig, Linden Lab turned to software application, producing LindenWorld, the precursor of Second Life.

Initially developed by Andrew Linden, one of the first employees at the Lab (and who would remain with the company until opting to re-join Philip Rosedale and work on the fledgling High Fidelity). LindenWorld wasn’t open to the public, and was more a game than social environment, with a focus on guns and the avatars were made out of prims and carried the name (appropriately enough, of Primitars.

Then in 2001, during a meeting with investors, that Rosedale and his team noticed those at the meeting were particularly responsive to the collaborative, creative potential of the nascent Second Life.

Thus, the objective, game-like focus of the platform’s development shifted towards a more community-drive, social environment, focused on user-created content, and thus Second Life as we  know it today was “born”. On March 13th, 2002, Steller Sunshine became the first public resident of Second Life, and the platform’s public beta commenced in October of that year. Then in June 2003, Linden Lab released Second Life to the world at large.

The first Second Life trailer

So … here’s an early “happy Birthday” to Linden Lab itself. While we may not always agree with the company or its decisions, the fact remains that without the Lab, many of us might never have entered user-collaborative, immersive social digital environments. So I hope that SL16B will mark the company’s birthday as much as it marks SL’s anniversary.

I’ve always enjoyed the infrastructure builds presented at the Second Life Birthday regions; they are always a hallmark of creativity and imagination. Over the last few years, two SLb infrastructure designers in particular have tended to catch my eye: Walton F. Wainwright (Faust Steamer) – who can forget his stunning Stage Left builds of yesteryear – such as his Hindu incarnation of Cerberus from SL13B or the amazing Automaton of SL13B, together with his marvellous Ghost Train welcome area of SL12B in 2015?), and Anthony (ADudeNamed Anthony), who in recent years has produced some stunning designs for the SLB auditoriums.

It is to the builds by these two designer that I found myself particularly drawn during SL15B, as they both offered something just that little bit different within the overall crystal theme for the celebrations.

For the SL15B Auditorium, Anthony took his lead from science fiction, with the auditorium “building” taking the form of the massive starship USS Crystal, Naval Construction Contract number SL15B. However, this isn’t simply a riff on all things Trek – it’s actually a clever homage to film and TV science fiction in general. The very shape of the vehicle, for example, carries echoes of the Jupiter 2 from the various incarnations of Lost In Space, while it might be said the communications array on the upper hull, together with the black exhaust ports around the stern of the ship carry just a hint of Millennium Falcon about them.

Some of the open hanger bay doors, rimmed in blue similarly suggest Star Wars – remember the bay the Falcon herself was hauled into on approaching the Death Star in A New Hope? And should you peer inside the hanger bays, there seems to be a nod towards Thunderbirds – etched into the rear bulkheads are numbers reminiscent of those found on the front of Thunderbird 2’s mission pods, the bulkhead pylons separating them suggesting the extended legs of somthing waiting to descend over them, a-la Thunderbird 2.

The focus of this build is obviously the auditorium, where a range of events took place during the week-long celebrations, including the five Meet the Lindens session (of which more in these pages anon).  However, the auditorium and the hanger bays are not the only elements of the ship. There are also the backstage areas, lobbies for the two “spaceport” forum meeting places, and the innards of the ship’s  life support system (including the ever-critical in so many space dramas, CO2 scrubbers).

However, it is the elevator you should direct yourself towards. This will offer you a ride to the bridge deck, where Anthony presents a slew of inside sci-fi jokes. The bridge itself is clearly modelled on that of most Starfleet vessels seen in various Trek incarnations – but be sure to look closely at the display screens and some of the system panels; the nods and winks across them are legion. There’s the familiar (to Trekkies at least) LCARS displays; references to Firefly, Star Wars: A New Hope, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Star Trek: Generations (“Tractor Beam: Install Tuesday”); 2001 A Space Odyssey; Star Trek: The Search for Spock; The Matrix franchise …  and also references to Second Life itself, and so on.

Flanking the bridge is the Captain’s Ready Room (conventional enough) and the ship’s computer room  – another wonderful nod towards 2001 A Space Odyssey.

By contrast, The Serpent, this year’s Stage Left design by Walton F. Wainwright takes a walk through dark fantasy territory, contrasting nicely with the bling and gaiety of the rest of the celebratory regions.

This is quite simply a work of art. From a base of crystals set in mysterious waters, a tall, dark tower rises into a darkening sky. Lights glow from behind its many windows, while atop its crown of carved serpents a great crystal floats, casting its own dull glow.

It is scene reminiscent of lord of the Rings – the tower could so easily be an echo of Minas Ithil before its fall into darkness to become the awful Minas Morgul. Reached via a long causeway bridge, sight of the tower is initially obscured by the open coil of a great serpent snake, the head of which, also crowned by crystals and dominated by huge, hypnotic eyes, rises from alongside the tower and moves ponderously back and forth, tongue flickering, as it surveys this fantastical domain.

From around the waters and barren hills flanking the tower’s island, great cluster of crystals rise, as if piercing the land and water from beneath. Similar clusters of crystals, surrounding the heads of yet more serpents burst forth from the tower’s buttress-like corners, while within its great form a single massive hall, illuminated a soft green, awaits beneath a huge crystal chandelier.

The wealth of detail here needs to be seen to be appreciated, from the tiled motif on the dance floor through the wonderful texturing on the walls inside and out to the very dark majesty of the tower’s tall finger and the awe-striking presence of the great serpent. This is a truly magnificent build which should not be missed.

Be sure to visit both, if you haven’t already done so, before the SL15B regions vanish after July 1st, 2018.

SLurl Details

Both locations are rated General.

• SL15B Serpent Stage (Stage Left)
• SL15B Auditorium